Zeroizing mechanism.



R. B. A. LBMAIGNBN.

ZEROIZING MBGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, M309.

Patented July 4, 1911.

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R. B. A. LEMAIGNEN.

ZEROIZING MEGHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. 19, 1909.

997,068, i Patented July 4, 1911.

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ZEROIZING MEOHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED A1119, 1909.

Patented July 4, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

l.To all whom 'it may concern.'

ROBERT BERTIN AUGUSTE LEMAIGNEN, OF ROUEN, FRANE.

ZEROIZIN MECHANISM.

Application filed .April 19,

-Be it known that I, ROBERT BERTIN AU- GUSTE LEMAIGNEN, a French citizen, residing at Rouen, Seine-Inferieure, France, have v invented a certain new and useful Zeroizing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

A very large number of zeroizing mecha, nisms have been designed, but none of them fulfils all the requirements. Among other .disadvantages they have that of not being sufficiently simple to manipulate and of making fraud possible, more particularly in meters or counters which are provided with them. The present invention however obviates the above-mentioned disadvantages. Its characteristic features are: that it acts positively on the drums of the machine to which it is` applied, so as to bring them positively7 to zero; that it .drives the drums not backward as usual, but, on the contrary, forward that it merely requires a movement of a given amplitude, always the same, of its operative part', for fulfilling entirely its function; `and also that the moment its movementis started, it stops the machine in question by completely withdrawing it from anyv possibility of 'fraud and releasing it only after its movement has been completed, and the drums returned to zero.

The invention is designed for employment in connection with a counting machine or` meter,as will be obvious, and primarily for a. counting machine of the'typeshown and described .in my .co-pending application, Serial No. 490,930, filed of even date with this application. Y

lIn the accompanying drawings, the zeroizing mechanism is shown as applied to such a counter or meter, and therein: Figure l is a front elevation, with parts removed, of the complete iniqention. Fig. 2 is a corre*- spending plan view. Figs.3 and 4 are'en'- larged cross sections taken, respectively, on the lines 3 3 and 4 4 of Fig. l. Fig. 5 1s a fra ental perspective' view of one of the..

main ratchets, showing the mutilation of the teeth.

lThe counter illustrated 1n said drawings is, -as already sta-ted', of the" type shown and described in the application above identified,

to which reference may be had for an extended description of the construction thereof. The essential parts of this counter, so

far as the' present invention is concerned, are

the shaft or spindle 1 on which the number- Specification of Letters Patent.`

1909. Serial No. 490,931.

, ing Wheels a1 a7 are mounted, a cam shaft m provided with a cam m0 for actuating the first .of a series of levers 00 06 carried by a shaft c, and aseries of spring-pressed pawls g0 g6. The remaining parts of the counter relate solely to the driving of the numbering wheels, and for this reason have no direct bearing upon this invention,

To the right hand faces of the numbering Wheels there is rigidly connected in any suitable manner a series of ratchets fo- 6, each of which has two successive 'teeth thereof mutilated, as shown in Fig. 5, the mutilations being in the nature of recesses which are formed preferably by milling cutters. These teeth are indicated by the reference letters t and t1 in the figure mentioned, and

their position with respect to their particular ing number or series of ratchets no n keyed to a shaftn having one .end thereof projecting exteriorly of the casing of the counter and provided with an operating head or handle n". Intermediate the ratchets there is formed in shaft n a series of transverse peripheral recesses or seats .s0-s", which lie directly above and normally 'receive the upper edges of the levers 00 06, (see Figs. 3 and 4), the bottom Walls of said seats being flat. The ratchets no n are of slightly greaterodiameter than theratchets and have the same number of teeth as'the latter, but the arrangement of these teeth is such that a blank or interval of a double tooth space is present. These blank spaces or intervals, when the ratchets no n? are in normal position, are .intersected, practically at their centers by the planes assing through the geometrical axes 0 the shafts a and n.

The pawls g g are drawn toward their respective ratchets fo- 6, by the springs M b, and the levers 00 06 are in like manner drawn toward shaft n by the springs e e", said levers being provided with upright fingers Z1-Z3 which lie in the planes of and directly beneath the spiral cams bl-b secured to the left hand faces of the ratchets fo- 6.

Patented July 4;, 19TH.

To zero-set the numbering wheels a1-a, it is only necessary to turn the shaft n through one complete revolution in a counterclockwise direction by means of its head n". During this rotation, the several levers co-c will be depressed by the cam action of said shaft due -to the formation of the seats .s0-s, and at the same time said levers .will carry the pawls g"--gG downwardly with them. The ratchets no-nf will rotate with shaft n and, in consequence, will rotate the ratchets )t0-f6 until the latter almost reach the zero position. At this time, the mutilated teeth t, t1 are directly adjacent the teeth of the ratchets 1z0-n, and by reason of theirY peculiar mutilation permit said ratchets 1z0-n to complete their revolution without affecting the ratchets fO-f, the diameter of the milling cutter emciated with the same.

Aturn movement of all the levers will be ployed to form the recesses or mutilations being the same as that of the ratchets no4-nf. The rotation of ,the ratchets nO-ny thus serves to bring the ratchets fO-f into the afore-mentioned position, irrespective of their position at the commencement of such rotation, said ratchets f-f reaching that position more or less quickly, according to their initial position.

At the completion of revolution of shaft n, the first seat s0 thereon will be brought into alinement with the first lever c", whereupon the latter will be free to move upwardly under the influence of its spring e0 into said seat. Then this movement takes place, the pawl g will likewise move upwardly, thereby rotating the ratchet f" and with it wheel al into a position wherein the zero 'on said wheel is visible through the.

sight opening in the front of the casing. As wheel a1 rotates, it turns Vwith it cam b1, which thus-releases finger all provided upon lever c1, the latter rising slightly through the medium of its spring e1 and actuating the second ratchet f1 by means of its pawl g1. In the same manner the remaining wheel ratchets will be actuated, thereby setting the corresponding wheels at zero.

yThe operation is similar in the main to that above described where the driving cam m0 is dispensed with and the successive actuation .of the wheels L2-a7 is not effected by means of spiral cams, and fin/gers asso- In that case, the re simultaneous, or virtually so, when the revolution o f the actuating shaft fn, is completed.

Inporder to prevent any partial manipulation of the zero-setting mechanism and( the temporary release of any of theV numbering wheels, ,there is provided apaWl p, which is carried by the shaft a, and a ratchet o keyed to shaft n, the arrangement being obviously suchthat backward rotation of the latter shaft is precluded. As a matter of fact, moreover, such backward rotation is ossible in an instance onl so loner as none 'of the ratchets keyed to shaft n has come into engagement with the non-recessed teeth of the ratchets which control the numbering Wheels.

The invention is not intended to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as modifications and changes may obviously be made Within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, where the numbering wheels have a large number of figures inscribed thereon, it may be necessary to effect the return movement of the levers not after a single revolution of the spindle n, but after several revolutions thereof, this result being obtained by modifying the proportions of the. two sets of ratchets. Also, it will be understood that the invention is susceptible of application with equal facility to other types of counter than that illustrated, and to calculating machines of different types, as well.

I claim as my invention:

1. ln a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering wheels, their shaft, and a driven member secured to each wheel; of means engaged with said members for rotating the same to partially zero-set the corresponding wheels; and additional means arranged to engage and rotate said members-at the conclusion of the first rotation thereof for completing the zerosetting of said wheels.

Y 2. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering wheels, their shaft, and a driven member secured to each wheel; of an operating member; a series or driving members carried by said operating member and engaged with the corresponding driven members, for driving the latter when the former is operated, to partially zero-set said wheels; and an additional series of driving members arranged to engage said-driven members at the conclusion of the first movement thereof, for completing the zero-setting of said wheels.

3. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering wheels, their shaft, and a ratchet secured to each wheel; 'of means engaged with said ratchets for rotating the same, to artially zero-set said wheels; and additiona means arranged to engage and rotate said ratchets at the conclusion of the rst rotation thereof for completing the zero-setting of said wheels.

4. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering wheels, their shaft, and a ratchet secured to each wheel; of rotating members engaged with said ratchets for partially zero-setting said wheels; and rocklng members arranged to engage said ratchets at the conclusion of the y rotation of the first-named members, for completing the zero-setting of said wheels.

5. YIn .a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numberin wheels,

their shaft,and va ratchet secure to each Wheel; of an operating shaft; a series of members carried thereby and engaged with,

said ratchetsfor partially zero-setting said Wheels; anda separate series of members controlled by the operation of said shaft and arrangedl to engage'said ratchets at the conclusion of the operation of the first-named members for completing the zero-setting of said wheels.

. and a series of-rocking members for completing` the zero-settlng, sa1d members being arranged for depression by the'cams during the partial zero-setting.

8.- In a calculating machixidthe combination, with a series of nu bering wheels, their shaft, and a driven member secured to each wheel; of. means engaged with said members for imparting thereto rotary movements of varying amplitude, to partially zero-set said Wheels; and additional means arranged for subsequent engagement with said memb rs to impart thereto a rotary movement o constant amplitude to complete the zero-setting of said wheels.

9. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering-.wheels, their shaft, and a driven member secured to each wheel; ofa series of driving members engaged with said -driven members for rotat-ing the same, to partiallyI zeros'et said wheels, one series of members \being mutilated in part, to terminate such rotation at a predetermined point; and an additional series of driving meiibers arranged to engage and rotate said `iven members at the termination of the/st rotation, to completelv the zero-setting of'said Wheels.

10. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering Wheels, their shaft, and a .toothed driven member secured to each wheel; of a series of toothed driving members engaged Withfsaid driven members, for rotating the same, to partially zero-set said `Wheels, each driven member having certainof `|its lteeth mutilated to terminate such rotation ata predetermined point; and an additional series of driving. members arrangedto engage and rotate said driven members( atthe termination of theI irst rotation, to complete thezero-setting of said wheels;

11. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering Wheels, their shaft, and a ratchet secured to each Wheel; of -a series of ratchets engaged with the firstnamedratchets, ,for rotating the same,.to partially zero-set said Wheels, each of said first-named ratchets having certain of its teeth mutilated, to terminate such rotation at a predetermined point; and an additional series of members arranged to engage and rotate said first-named ratchets at the termination of the first rotation, to complete the zero-setting of said Wheels.

12. In a calculating machine, the combina tion, with a series of numbering Wheels and their shaft; of ani operatin member; means connected directly thereto or partially zerosettin said Wheels when said member is actuate and additional'means controlled by the actuation of said member for completing the zero-setting when such actuation is ter' minated.

13. In a calculating machine, the combination, Wit-h a series of numbering Wheels and their shaft; of an operating member; means connected directly thereto for partially zerosetting said Wheels when said member is actuated; and a series of'levers arranged for engagement with said member for completing t-he zero-setting when the actuation of the latter is terminated.

14. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering wheels and their shaft; of an operating shaft; means carried .by the second-named shaftand rotatable With the same for rotating said Wheels, to partially zero-set the same; a series of rocking members operated by said second-named shaft; and means carried by said members for rotating said wheels at t-he conclusion of their rst rotation, to complete the zero-setting". .v

l5. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a series of numbering wheels and their shaft; of a series of simultaneously rotating devices for rotating said Wheels, to partially zero-set the same; and a series lof successively-operating devices for rotatmg said Wheels at the conclusion of the first rotation, to complete the zero-setting.

16. In, a calculating machine, the combination, with a shaft, a series of numbering Wheels mounted thereon, and a lratchet vrigidly connected to each Wheel; of an yop- Awheels mounted thereon, rigldly connected to each wheel; of an op- 17. In a calculating machine, the combination, with a shaft, a series of numbering and a ratchet erating shaft;`a series of ratchets mounted on the second-named shaft, and arranged to engage and rotate the first-named ratchets, to partially zero-set the wheels; means for holding the second-named shaft against backward rotation; and a series of members controlled by the rotation of said secondnamed shaft and arranged to rotate the firstnamed ratchets at the conclusion of the first rotation thereof, to complete the zero-setting of said Wheels.

lln testimony whereof have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing'wib" nesses. l ROBERT BERTIN AUGUSTE LEMIGNEN. Witnesses:

CHARLES WVEIsMANN, H. C. Com. 

